Adam Schefter of the NFL network is reporting that the Ravens will be putting the Franchise Tag on OLB/DE Terrell Suggs. League rules state this his salary would then be the average of the top-five players in his position.

This leads to some interesting maneuvering from the front office. With three of the top five and six of the top 20 highest-paid players (including bonuses) being defensive ends, it makes sense to save the $814,000 by applying the LB tag.

Here are the salary breakdowns:

DE: Julius Peppers, Jason Taylor, Justin Smith, Jevon Kearse and Michael Strahan make up the elite 5 in the DE category, with a franchise salary of $8,879,000.

LB: Ray Lewis, Zach Thomas, Keith Brooking, Keith Bulluck and Nick Barnett make up the highest paid quintet in the LB category, with a franchise salary of $8,065,000.

According to the USA Today Salaries Databases, the Ravens had the 10th highest payroll in the NFL ($104,997,764).

Maybe we should have saved our money and drafted Kevin Hart right out of High School. He really wants to play Division-I ball!

Aaron Wilson has a nice feature story on RavensInsider about Terrell Suggs and his pending unrestricted free agent/franchise tag status.

If Suggs is franchised, he would cost the Ravens $8.065M against the cap ($8.065M being the average of the top five salaries at his position). The Ravens have until February 21st to apply the franchise tag and keep Suggs from becoming a highly sought-after unrestricted free agent.

Rumors are flying that Suggs is seeking a better contract than the one Adalius Thomas signed last year with the New England Patriots (5 years, $35M) and Dwight Freeney’s insane six-year, $72M ($30M guaranteed) contact with the Colts.

Is he worth that kind of money?

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Moments after I posted the coaching update yesterday, the Ravens and Coach Harbaugh made some more personnel acquisitions.  The updated list, current as of this morning, is below:

Head Coach: John Harbaugh
Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator: Rex Ryan
Offensive Coordinator: Cam Cameron
Special Teams Coordinator: Jerry Rosburg
Defensive Line Coach: Clarence Brooks
Outside Linebackers Coach: Mike Pettine
Secondary Coach: Mark Carrier
Running Backs Coach: Wilbert Montgomery
Offensive Line Coach: John Matsko
Assistant Offensive Line Coach: Andy Moeller
Tight Ends Coach: Wade Harman
Special Assistant to the Head Coach: Vic Fangio
Quarterbacks Coach: Hue Jackson

File this under the “Good to Know” category: the Ravens ARE NOT pitching an offer to the Eagles for Donovan McNabb.  No word on the cans of Chunky Soup.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Ozzie Newsome has been disputing reports from ESPN and other media outlets that the Ravens are after the oft-injured QB.

“We have not had one meeting to discuss any personnel on our team or anyone else’s team,” Newsome said yesterday. “We’ve been very busy hiring assistant coaches.”

We already have an injury-prone QB and he’s currently rehabbing his non-throwing shoulder this off-season.  With wholesale coaching changes across the board (with the obvious exception being Rex Ryan), who’s to say that the Ravens won’t roll with Troy Smith and a backup to be named later until they can draft/develop a QB of their own?  Why trade a first round pick for a veteran during a transition year?  It just doesn’t make sense.

Baltimore Ravens coaching staff update, as of February 5, 2007:

Head Coach: John Harbaugh
Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator: Rex Ryan
Offensive Coordinator: Cam Cameron
Special Teams Coordinator: Jerry Rosburg
Defensive Line Coach: Clarence Brooks
Outside Linebackers Coach: Mike Pettine
Secondary Coach: Mark Carrier
Running Backs Coach: Wilbert Montgomery
Offensive Line Coach: John Matsko
Tight Ends Coach: Wade Harman
Special Assistant to the Head Coach: Vic Fangio

I’m sure McGahee would much rather win the real Super Bowl… but with the season we just had, I’m sure Willis will take what he can get.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — It’s not quite the Super Bowl, but Willis McGahee has to be pretty happy with this championship nonetheless.

The Baltimore Ravens running back took home the trophy at Electronic Arts’ Madden Bowl, the annual video game tournament that pits National Football League players against each other in “Madden NFL” matchups prior the big game.

McGahee bested Buffalo running back Marshawn Lynch — the guy who took his old Bills job, coincidentally — during Thursday’s eight-round tournament. Current pro athletes, Dennis Rodman and other partygoers cheered from the sidelines at the packed Martini Ranch nightclub, which had been outfitted with dozens of flat-screen televisions and Xbox 360 video game consoles to accommodate the event.

Other attendees included Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart, San Diego Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo, Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Earlier in the day, EA Sports announced that simulations using “Madden NFL 08″ predicted that the New England Patriots would be victorious over the New York Giants by a narrow margin of eight points with a final score of 38-30 at the Super Bowl. The video game’s engine simulated the championship bout using the teams’ most-recent rosters and player statistics.

EA Sports says the simulation has correctly predicted Super Bowl winners for the past five years.

Interesting prediction from Madden 08: 38-30 — that has to make sports boooks really nervous.

All it took was quite possibly the greatest back in the NFL to go down, but nonetheless, Baltimore’s own Willis McGahee will be heading to Hawaii for his first Pro Bowl.

“To be going with three other Ravens is also special,” McGahee said in a statement. “It is a goal that I have had for a long time, and I am going to enjoy every second of this.”

McGahee finished 8th in the NFL in rushing yards (1,207 yards, 7 touchdowns) in 15 games with the Ravens.

As expected, the Ravens have reached an agreement to retain Rex Ryan as defensive coordinator.  The Baltimore Sun reports that the deal will keep Ryan in the Purple and Black through the 2010 season.  The three-year deal is reportedly worth $1.3 to $1.5 million per season.

In addition to the payday, Ryan was also named Assistant Head Coach.

I asked Jeff Williams, the Sports Cartel’s resident Chargers expert, about Cam Cameron.  I told him to be honest and not hold anything back — that we wanted a real fan perspective of how Cam handles an offense, players, et cetera.

Here’s what he had to say:

Tenure with the Chargers

Cam Cameron was brought in to replace former offensive coordinator Norv Turner in 2002 (previously Cam actually coached under Norv with the Redskins).  Cam’s primary directive after joining the Chargers- maintain the singleback-focused offensive scheme that had been installed by Norv Turner.  Cam not only maintained that offensive system, but he built upon it.  RB LaDainian Tomlinson grew into one of the premier runningbacks in the league, and QB Philip Rivers made the Pro Bowl in his first year as a starter.  In 2005 the Chargers had a 3,500 yard passer (Drew Brees), and 1000-yard RB (LT) and a 1000-yard receiver (TE Antonio Gates) for the first time since Dan Fouts led the Chargers in the early 80’s.  In 2006 the Chargers led the league in scoring and went an NFL-best 14-2…before losing in the playoffs.

Ah, the playoffs.  For all the good that you can say about Cam, he will forever be linked to the coaching staff that led the Chargers to multiple choke-jobs in the post-season.  After the offensive performance put on by the Chargers offense in 2006, it was believe that we finally had everything in place to make a post-season run.  But in our first game (divisional round), the offense that was on the field did not seem to be the offense that we had become accustomed to with Cam.  Leading after the half, Cam called only 9 running plays for his MVP RB in the 2nd half, still baffling since Tomlinson dominated most of the first half.  QB Rivers was ineffective in the 2nd half and the Chargers went on to lose to the Patriots.  For all the heat former head coach Marty Schottenheimer took for his miserable playoff record, much of this loss was laid squarely on the shoulders of OC Cam Cameron.

In Cam’s time with the Chargers, coaches were not allowed to talk to the media.  Thus, there isn’t anything that can be pulled from press conferences or media interviews.  Still, the players seemed to enjoy playing for him, and there were no negative comments ever made by players about Cam or the offensive coaches in San Diego.  He was believed to be a QB guru, but he seemed to take a hands off approach with young QB Rivers.  When Norv Turner returned to the Chargers, he created the perception that Rivers had not been sufficiently developed under the previous coaching staff.  Maybe that’s just one man’s opinion, but there never did seem to be a close relationship that developed between Rivers and Cam.

Cam would not be my first choice for head coach, but he would be at the top of the list for offensive coordinator.  He made the most of the offensive talent around him with the Chargers, but unfortunately took over a Dolphins team that had virtually no talent.  I imagine that he has the desire to prove that he can be a successful OC and to prove that he is worth another chance at head coach down the road.

You can vist Jeff’s blog at chargerscoverage.com.

As heard on KSLG in St. Louis, Baltimore Ravens ex-DC Rex Ryan is heading to Washington as their new defensive coordinator.

Wasington? The REDSKINS? Are you serious?

I’ll post more later when I’m not on my blackberry. Let’s just say I’m not happy with the cross-town move…

Edit (1/24/08): Last night I was without internet access, so I wasn’t able to view the Sun or any other web sites without pulling them up on my Blackberry with AT&T’s slow-ass EDGE network. Big thanks to commenters math_geek and EdgarAllanPoe for the info.